A number of prominent crypto industry leaders have announced a new cross-platform payment services app called “Hi”.
Hi was unveiled in an announcement on July 2, 2021, in which it claimed had already garnered 250,000 members from 130 countries in less than two months of private beta testing.
The app leverages blockchain technology to power a pilot service for cross-ecosystem financial services via the world’s most popular social media messengers.
It has already been operating on the privacy-focused platform Telegram and has now expanded to the Facebook-owned WhatsApp messenger. Its first product is a digital wallet that provides members with a seamless payment experience via social messengers. It is looking to expand into LINE, Facebook Messenger, Viber, and others in the near future.
Crypto and Fiat Transfers
According to the website, Hi provides access to over 100 currencies – both traditional and crypto assets – all in a single account with no added fees or markups.
It is aiming to disrupt the centralized banking and payments systems that currently charge high fees, work at “a snail’s pace”, and offer terrible interest rates.
Hi also promises up to 20% per annum returns on select currencies and a number of savings, and rewards incentives.
The app’s native currency is called ‘Hi Dollars’; they are not a stablecoin but more of a membership token. The tokens will be available in a pre-sale round and are currently priced at $0.238 according to the app. The ERC-20 token launched at a price of $0.01 in early May.
There are a number of giveaways for early signups and supply appears to be proportional to the membership which was 290,000 at the time of writing. Hi Dollars will be minted daily and awarded to users of the platform in its initial “Launch Incentives and Distribution” phase.
Backed by Industry Pros
According to the release, Hi is drawing from leading crypto and tech companies such as Bitcoin.com, Crypto.com, Tencent, and Alibaba; in addition to financial services firms such as JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley. Former CEO of Bitcoin.com, Stefan Rüst, stated:
“I welcome the explosion of messenger services offering many features including the ability to send money, the final frontier if you will. hi is a powerful expression of messaging with money – the ultimate way to exchange value with your friends.”
Sean Rach, former CMO of Crypto.com, acknowledged that in the current system, people with less money pay more for financial services, before adding:
“The hi Foundation, a Singapore based not-for-profit, has designed hi from the ground up to maximize membership value – not profits.”
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